US Open KMT
Oak Island's "Mako Warrior" crew took the coveted top spot at the U.S. Open with a 40.30 lb. king mackerel they hooked near the old Cape Fear sea buoy on a live pogy. The fish earned the anglers $42,900.
Landing the only 40+ lb. king caught during the tournament, Oak Island’s “Mako Warrior” crew bested the 453 boat field by over 2 lbs. to take first place and a check for $42,900 home from the U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, held October 1-3 out of Southport Marina. Past the “Mako Warrior,” local teams dominated the leader board, taking home the top three spots.
Larry Deal, Eric Deal, Donnie Elkins, and Lee Skipper made up the “Mako Warrior” team and fished aboard a 28’ Mercury-powered Mako center console. The anglers’ big fish came on Friday, October 2, the tournament’s first fishing day, and it was part of six kings the crew landed that day.
They fished the old Cape Fear River channel area, an extremely popular spot that has produced several U.S. Open winners in the past.
“You know the river channel’s going to be good for at least a top three fish,” Eric Deal explained. “You just have to be the boat out there that gets it.”
Fishing just inshore of the old sea buoy in 45’ of water, the anglers got a hard strike on a naked pogy around 2:30 on Friday, and Deal was first to the rod.
“He made a big old swirl and then he was gone,” Deal said. “He ran straight offshore.”
After his teammates cleared the remaining lines of their spread, they pinned the Mako’s throttles and began chasing their fish.
“He stayed up top most of the fight,” Deal continued. “Until the last part, then he went down.”
After chasing their fish around on the surface for several minutes, the king went deep and into a typical king mackerel death spiral, making wide circles in the water beneath the boat. However, its circles were interrupted when the fish’s tail got wrapped up in the line.
“He actually got tail-wrapped,” the winning angler said, “and that tail popped up first. It was a nice fat tail.”
After Deal worked the fish within range, Skipper leaned out over the gunwale and planted the gaff, then swung the huge mackerel over the side and into the boat. With a big fish in the boat in such a large tournament, the anglers elected to run for the scales as soon as the fish hit the deck.
“We bagged him, iced him down, and shot in,” Deal said.
At the scales, the fish turned out to be substantially heavier than the “Mako Warrior” anglers had guessed at sea.
“We were actually guessing somewhere in the 31-34 lb. range,” Deal explained, “but he turned out to be heavier.”
It was quite a bit heavier, and good news for the “Mako Warrior,” as a 31 pounder wouldn’t even have cracked the top 20 in the event, and the 40 lb. fish carried them to the winner’s circle.
Landing a 38.00 lb. fish, the “M & M” team, from Bolivia, NC, hauled home second place and $23,680 aboard their 28’ Triton. Johnny Brown, Sheila Brown, Justin Richardson, and Jason Dail made up the team, and they also hooked their big fish on Friday.
The anglers fished around 6 miles off the Cape Fear River mouth in around 45’ of water, and they had action most of the day, hooking their big fish around 2:00.
A double pogy rig on top fooled the second place king, and Richardson was first to the reel when the fish started burning off line.
“We had to chase him,” Johnny Brown reported. “He ran all our line off. He was smoking the line, so we had to put all 500 horses right towards him.”
After chasing their fish for around a quarter-hour, the fish began a death spiral, and Brown was able to sink a gaff in it around 20 minutes after the bite.
Like the winners, the second place crew elected to head for the scales after boating their big king.
“We were so excited we almost beat the boat apart running in,” Brown said. “We were hitting it as hard as we could go.”
The “M & M” anglers wished to thank sponsors Mike Gore Builders and Russell’s Place Restaurant for their support.
Finishing third, Southport’s “Spread M Wide” crew weighed in a 36.05 lb. king mackerel to take home over $12,000. Mike Wright, Braeden Wright, Bill Easley, Steve Henson, and Jeff Bartholomew were aboard the 25’ Contender for the event.
Their valuable mackerel bit around 11:00 on Saturday as the anglers were trolling near Lighthouse Rocks. A naked ribbonfish 35’ deep on the downrigger fooled the king. Braeden was on the rod, but he didn’t have to fight the third place king for very long.
“That fish fought, we got the lines in, turned the boat, and were able to gaff him,” Mike Wright explained.
When the fish surfaced, Mike Wright sank home the gaff and boated the big king.
“We knew that fish was on the board, but we didn’t know how big it was,” Wright said. “I didn’t get excited until 6:00 when our saw our names go on the board in third place.”
Patrick Bryant and Derek Savage, fishing out of Holden Beach on the “Twister,” reeled in fourth place and $2,500 with a 35.80 lb. king. Rounding out the top 5, Thomas Hayes and the “Tailgrabber Too,” from Thomasville, NC, weighed in a 35.00 lb. king good for $1,625.
For more info on the tournament or to view the full results, visit www.usopenkmt.com.
